Joint Chiefs Chair: “Very Clear” that More US Troops Will Be Requested for Afghanistan

ABC News' Luis Martinez reports: A Pentagon report released today confirms that 14 percent of the 540 detainees — or one in seven — who were released from the detainee center Guantanamo Bay have been known or suspected of returning to terrorist activities. Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Congress today that it is "very clear" to him that more U.S. troops will be needed for the war in Afghanistan and that he expects a request from commanders to arrive "in the very near future."

Mullen told the Senate Armed Services Committee, he does not know how many more troops will be requested by Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, but he said, "It's very clear to me we will need more resources to execute the president's strategy."

Mullen was asked later what he meant by near future and he said he expected McChrystal's submission for additional troops to be made "in the next couple of weeks." Referring to McChrystal, Mullen told the committee, "I do believe that having heard his views and having confidence in his leadership, a properly resourced counterinsurgency probably means more forces."

Having ordered the deployment of 21,000 additional troops to Afghanistan earlier this year, the total U.S. troops levels in Afghanistan will reach 68,000 by the end of this year. You can read more on this HERE.